A total of two days passed since Jaune had died, and he finally reached Vale. The journey was surprisingly easy for him now, especially when he could just fly away from danger and roadblocks. Ravine? Just fly over it. Hiking a Mountain? Fly instead. One of the demonic looking Grimm jumped out of the trees? Fly away. Unless it could also fly, then he just shifted himself and hid inside the ground. All his belongings, minus his sword, didn't shift with him and were left scattered on the ground until he gathered them back up.
For how much he used his flying ability, he didn't have a proficiency for it. Although he could go sky high, that was only when he wasn't carrying his luggage. With all his luggage, the most he could do was hover. He spent most of his journey thinking over his situation, he knew that he had died and was still technically dead, but what exactly does that change? Almost nothing, aside from the fact that he didn't feel the need to eat or sleep during his journey, he could still be a hero. His powers were another matter, he didn't know why he had them, or what they were. He had heard and read stories of Huntsmen mastering their Souls to fight against the Soulless Creatures of Darkness, The Grimm. Was this what they meant, actual superpowers? He had thought they were being metaphorical.
Jaune made sure all his wounds were covered when he reached the walls that surrounded Vale. After getting his papers checked, they allowed him in with no problem. The light coming from the fragmented moon was overpowered by the artificial lights that lit up every street he could see. He felt a little overwhelmed by the Kingdom's capital, he was from the outskirts in a village that had gotten electricity right before he was born. He had seen streets lit up before, and he had seen bustling towns before, but that was only ever in passing, places he would pass by when his family would go camping.
The knowledge that he was in Vale was what sent him over the edge, but he felt numb. The pit in his stomach, the one that would form when he was nervous, the one that alluded to vomiting, was empty. He knew what he was feeling, but his body didn't acknowledge it, so he eventually shook away the feeling of melancholy, and sat out to find a criminal. He had a plan, he wasn't proud of it, but it was necessary.
Of course, his determination came to a halt when his eyes landed on a building. It was a store, a store that sold sewing and knitting materials, it was between a laundromat and a tailor shop. He changed his objective, he was now going to get his onesie repaired.
First, he made a note of where the store was, then he left to find a thrift store. He managed to find a shady, rundown looking building where he purchased a clean black shirt, the sleeves just barely covering the hole on his bicep, and he got a pair of black khakis. He had counted on the dark of the night to hide the scratches on his arms.
Then he went to the laundromat, and put all his old clothes into a washing machine. He had tried to clean his onesie by hand when he found a creek, but he couldn't get the blood out. While his clothes washed, he affixed his belt and weapon on to his new pants. As he counted how much it would cost to dry his clothes, he realized he was almost broke. Well, he still had the Lien he had put aside to buy something illegal, not that anyone but him knew that.
He leaned against the machine washing his clothes, fluorescent light reflecting off his pale skin, he had crossed his arms to cover the small marks that peppered his flesh. He was currently dressed in all black with a messy and disheveled appearance, his eyes looked dead, his expression was troubled, his hair was a mess. The shaking machine would tap rhythmically against the sheath that held his sword. And he was contemplating spending the money that he'd saved up for his dream, on repairing his blue bunny pajamas.
Apparently, his state must've misled others into believing he was some troubled teen, a mother kept her distance, but a shady and rugged looking man approached Jaune.
"Seems like you have a problem, and luckily for you, I have solutions." The rugged man said to him in a friendly tone.
Jaune froze, his mind racing with anxiety, he didn't know how to respond to the man, all he could do was stare. But his body didn't get the memo, so no sweat broke out, no nervous laughter bubbled within him, and his posture didn't shrink to make himself seem smaller.
The unnamed man took his silent acknowledgement as a sign to continue. "I could get you anything, drugs, money, even a plaything, all you have to do is a little task. What do you say, kid?" He offered.
Jaune calmed down, the man was offering medicine, toys or money as a payment for doing something. He made these kinds of deals before, normally with his neighbors, he would usually just have to clean, babysit or just plain help out around their home. He was still slightly nervous, he considered the pros and cons of working for a stranger, however then he remembered his mother's words: 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met.'
And besides. "I do need money." He accidentally spoke his thoughts. He was embarrassed, but before he could internally freak out, the man continued.
"Great, follow me." The man told him and went out the back door.
He checked how much longer until his clothes were done, and set a timer on his Scroll before exiting the building. Behind the laundromat was a dirty alleyway, the man had lit a cigarette before Jaune had arrived.
"Okay kid, we'll start off small." The man said as he pulled a brown paper bag out of his jacket. "Deliver this to my regular at The Club, he'll be wearing a green shirt, when you find him say you were sent by me, he'll pay you then you bring the money back here and I'll give you your cut." The man said with one breath.
So he just had to deliver a package, easy peasy, but. "What's your name and where's The Club?" Jaune asked as he took the brown paper bag.
"The Club's just down this alleyway, about thirty minutes down that way." The man said and pointed south. "And my name is Verletzt, Aber Nicht Gebrochen, but people call me Verlet, now get moving."
Jaune started walking, the cold air of the night brushing by him, and he expected to shiver, instead his body merely took notice of the cold but didn't react. He heard The Club before he saw it, the plain looking building was blasting music and flashing lights escaped the windows.
He walked straight in and stumbled almost immediately, the music was deafening and the light was blinding. The sensory overload caused discomfort in him, physically. He was a little surprised to feel it, but he didn't like it. He had experienced the world as bright lights, but he couldn't quite seem to handle flashing colors, so he brought a hand to his head and massaged his temples. And then the world went silent.
He glanced up, and met a world of black and white, with shades of gray. He took a moment to look around in awe, but he needed to hurry up so he could put his clothes in the dryer. There was one problem, he couldn't see color and he was supposed to deliver the bag to someone in a green shirt. He tried asking around, but he was currently deaf, and other people could still hear the music. He didn't want to experience discomfort again, so he used his Scroll to ask people if they ordered something from Verlet. Most people ignored him, and the ones that did answer shook their heads no.
Jaune took a seat at the counter and sighed, he only had a few minutes before his clothes were done, even though it would've taken an hour at the minimum to complete his task, he just wanted it to be over soon.
Just as he began thinking of ways to apologize to Verlet, two girls appeared in front of him, who he didn't notice until one of them kicked him in his shin. He felt a numb buzz from his leg, and his attention was brought back to reality, where two identical angry girls were standing in front of him. He didn't know what they wanted, so he just waved and smiled. He found it hard to get nervous in The Club, he felt the atmosphere was too inviting and warm. As long as he couldn't see colors or hear sounds.
The two girls took turns opening and closing their mouths, they were probably trying to speak to him. He was going to use his Scroll to tell them he couldn't hear them, but apparently they had a different idea. The one to his left punched his cheek, his head jerked to the side and he fell out of his seat, where the one to his right grabbed him and started dragging him. He was confused, he didn't know why he was punched or why being dragged off. He was calm but confused, he found it hard to panic as they dragged him into a backroom.
The girls handed him off to three guys in suits, who forced him to his knees and two of them each held an arm, while the third pushed something against the back of his head. Then a big burly guy with a beard walked into the room, the two girls were on opposite sides of him. He was saying something, but Jaune still couldn't hear. He considered turning sounds back on, but all that would do is give him a headache if the music was still on.
The bearded man continued to talk, not knowing he was going unheard by him. After a while, the man looked angry, and waved his hand at another guy in a suit. The new suit guy searched Jaune, he took out the bag that Verlet gave him which seemed to anger the man more.
He was confused, but he believed that this man was the boss and he somehow pissed off the girls who work for him. After some more ranting to a deaf Jaune, another suit guy stepped into the room, he seemed nervous as he interrupted his boss. The suit guy handed the boss Jaune's scroll.
The boss read that text that was on the Scroll.Sorry, I can't hear what you two are saying, I'm deaf.
The boss sighed, he looked tired, and the two girls made laughing motions at the boss, before he turned to speak to them. He said something to the suit guys holding Jaune, because they released him and gave him his Scroll back.
One of the suit guys gave the boss another Scroll. The boss typed out and showed his question to Jaune.What are you doing here?
Jaune used his Scroll to type his answer.I was told to give a man in a green shirt that bag for some money, but I'm colorblind so I couldn't do it. Then I think I pissed off those girls, sorry about that.
The boss sighed again. Who sent you?
Verlet.
Of course, follow me kid.
The boss spoke to the suit guys, and then he led him out of the room and to the bar. He pointed at him then towards a seat. Jaune sat down, the boss gave him a drink and told him with the Scroll to stay there. He took a sip of his drink, it was flavorless.
A few minutes passed, and he was just waiting for someone to tell him he could leave, he had already finished his drink. Then someone approached the boss, it was a man dressed in a fancy suit. They argued, until the boss looked defeated. The boss, some suit guys, and the fancy suit man started walking away, a suit guy motioned for him to follow. So he got out of his seat and as he walked he realized something, it wasn't the club that made him calm. It was definitely his powers, he was beginning to feel numb all over.
Once he caught up with the group outside The Club, the fancy suit man bellowed silently when he saw him.
A suit guy showed him a Scroll. Take this guy's partner to Verlet, if you don't she will kill you.
Jaune gave a lazy thumbs up in reply.
The fancy suit man left with some suit guys, and the boss went back inside. Leaving him all alone in the back alley, until the sound of shattering glass came from behind him as someone else appeared in the alley, not that he heard it. He only turned around when someone poked him in the back, he met a short girl with three shades of gray in her hair and eyes that were two different shades from each other.
Are you the girl I'm supposed to lead? Sorry by the way. I'm deaf. He typed out to her, she nodded and motioned for him to walk.
So he led her back to the laundromat, where Verlet was still smoking. Well, not for long, he had only blinked and Verlet was suddenly headless. The girl that followed him was standing over the corpse with a smile, he waved her goodbye as he went to check on his clothes, he didn't get far when he felt another poke at his back.
He turned around and found the same girl, only this time she was holding a head and a Scroll. Not so fast, I want a photo of us with the head. :)
He put on a smile as the girl used her Scroll to take a picture of them. He was smiling, Verlet was dead, and the girl was sticking out her tongue. After the picture was taken, he turned around to go inside the door, but in the blink of an eye, the door was replaced with the moon, and then Jaune fell into a hand. No, his head fell into a hand, the girl had beheaded him.
The girl took out her Scroll and prepared to take another picture, she put his head against her own head, both facing the camera. The girl squeezed her eyes shut and grinned. Not wanting to seem rude, he put on another smile as she took the picture. When she was done, she dropped his head and vanished into the night.
After his head bounced off the ground, it started to float over to his fallen body, and when he reached his body he connected the two. After healing, he went inside to get his clothes, he put his clothes in the dryer and sat down on a bench. As the world regained color and sound, Jaune passed out.